# Epistle of Barnabas 12.7

- Author: Anonymous
- Work: [Epistle of Barnabas](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/barnabas/) (*Epistula Barnabae*)
- Date: ca. 70–135 (often ca. 130) (disputed)
- Source: Lake, LCL 24:384; Kirsopp Lake, ed. and trans., The Apostolic Fathers, vol. 1, LCL 24 (London: Heinemann; New York: Macmillan, 1912), 340–407 (Greek text: K. Lake, The Apostolic Fathers (LCL, 1912), digitized by the Perseus Digital Library and published by the First Thousand Years of Greek project (Open Greek and Latin), CC BY-SA 4.0)
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-26
- Canonical URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/barnabas/12/7/

Summary: Looking to the bronze serpent in faith brought life: a sign of Jesus.

## Greek text

ἐλθόντες οὖν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ ἐδέοντο Μωϋσέως, ἵνα περὶ αὐτῶν ἀνενέγκῃ δέησιν περὶ τῆς ἰάσεως αὐτῶν. εἶπεν δὲ πρὸς αὐτοὺς Μωϋσῆς· Ὅταν, φησίν, δηχθῇ τις ὑμῶν, ἐλθέτω ἐπὶ τὸν ὄφιν τὸν ἐπὶ τοῦ ξύλου ἐπικείμενον καὶ ἐλπισάτω πιστεύσας, ὅτι αὐτὸς ὢν νεκρὸς δύναται ζωοποιῆσαι, καὶ παραχρῆμα σωθήσεται. καὶ οὕτως ἐποίουν. ἔχεις πάλιν καὶ ἐν τούτοις τὴν δόξαν τοῦ Ἰησοῦ, ὅτι ἐν αὐτῷ πάντα καὶ εἰς αὐτόν.

## English translation (Claude)

So they came together and begged Moses to offer a prayer for them, for their healing. And Moses said to them, “When,” he says, “any of you is bitten, let him come to the serpent that is placed on the tree, and let him hope, believing that though it is dead it can give life, and he will be saved at once.” And so they did. Again you have in these things also the glory of Jesus, that all things are in him and for him.

## Scripture references

- Num 21:7: allusion, high confidence
- Num 21:8: allusion, high confidence
- John 3:14: echo, medium confidence
- Col 1:16: echo, medium confidence

## Citation (SBL)

Barn. 12.7 (trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/barnabas/12/7/).